HSBC shareholders have overwhelmingly backed the 2015 pay packages handed out to top executives and a new pay policy covering the next three years, at a London AGM where the bank's top brass had been expected to face some uncomfortable moments from investors on issues ranging from remuneration to the Panama Papers scandal.

The bank's annual meeting, held on April 22 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, took place against the backdrop of hefty protest votes by shareholders in other big UK-listed companies including BP, whose investors on April 14 lodged a 59% 'no' vote against chief executive Bob Dudley's pay after the company posted big losses.